ISLAMABAD: Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui said on Thursday that poor goalkeeping skills have cost the junior hockey team dearly in the Junior Asia Cup and urged the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to press into service the expertise of former goalkeepers.

Stating that a goalkeeping-centric camp was the need of the hour, the former Olympian called for utilising the expertise of former goalies like Shahid Ali Khan, Mansoor Ahmed and Ahmed Alam.

“The PHF should press into service the expertise of former goalkeepers like Shahid, Mansoor and Ahmed at the goalkeeping camp,” he said, adding that full-backs should also be called in during the camp.

Islah, under whose leadership Pakistan won the 1978 World Cup, also advised the PHF to arrange matches for the junior team with European sides to prepare them for next year’s Junior Hockey World Cup in India.

“The junior team will have to put up a lot of hard work against European sides, as No. 2 in Asia means that we still have a long way to go,” he said.

“A total of 20 to 25 matches should be organised for the junior team against Europeans,” said the former Olympian, adding that Pakistan had played much against the Asian sides and now it was time to play more against the Europeans.

He also stated that the PHF should focus on resolving the issues of the senior team, saying they were lagging behind.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015